Photonics Dictionary: S

1. A device used to trace out an object and build up an image. One of the most common of these types is video scanning. The scanning takes place inside the television tube as electrons, guided by...

The spot illuminated on a cathode-ray tube by the initial impact of the scanning ray and the screen.

A pinhole camera used to record a radioactive tracer's distribution in a subject by means of a scintillation counter or a fluorescent screen; used when a recording emulsion is not practical.

The large, usually flat surface onto which an image is projected for viewing. May be reflecting or transmitting (rear projection).

A projection screen having vertical ribs or flutes set into a plastic surface.

A type of color-generating cathode-ray tube that uses a shadow mask, a thin perforated electrode, located close to the display screen. Each hole in the mask coincides with a triad of three phosphor...

A method of demonstration or examination using a point source illumination without the use of any projection lens between the object and its shadow, the shadow being cast on a distant screen.

A passive infrared system that uses two line-of-sight telescopes to generate both narrow and wide field-of-view images of the same target area, which can be presented on a single split screen or on...

A system employing a dark trace tube in which the opacity of the screen is varied as a function of the power of the beam.

An optical projection device designed to project positive color transparencies onto a screen for viewing.

Spatial resolution refers to the level of detail or granularity in an image or a spatial dataset. It is a measure of the smallest discernible or resolvable features in the spatial domain, typically...

In infrared imaging systems used for mass screening of printed circuit boards or other quality control applications, an image of an ideal component that is stored in the system's memory and then...

Abbreviation of "synchronization.'' In television, the timing signals used to drive the scanning process. Horizontal sync triggers the retracing of the raster line beginning at the left-hand...